Deathscapes

Alan Kurdi-Aftermath of Alan Kurdi’s death – AI Weiwei -parallax2

Aftermath of Alan Kurdi’s death – actions and reactions

Alan’s father, Abdullah, has denied accusations from some survivors that he was tasked to steer and captained the overcrowded boat (Reuters, 2015).

Since Alan died, a Turkish court has convicted two Syrians for human trafficking and causing the deaths of the five refugees including Alan Kurdi through deliberate negligence (Osborne , 2016]; Aljazeera, 2016; and ABC News, 2016). The court exculpated the father, Abdullah Kurdi, from allegations that suggest his involvement. Around this time, the height of western media attention on deaths at sea, calls by political parties and other groups ‘stop refugee boats’ (Knott, 2015) started to make the headlines.

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The Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei, has played a high-profile role since Alan’s death to publicize the inhumane and degrading conditions awaiting those who do make it to shore. His interventions in response to Alan’s image – some of which have been controversial, have included photographs, videos, and most recently a feature-length documentary film, Human Flow (2017).